The Feudal Kingdom of England, 1042-1216

by Frank Barlow

Book Overview

The political, constitutional, economic, social, military, foreign and cultural themes of medieval England (1042-1216) are integrated in this updated fourth edition with maps and genealogical charts. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0582482372
• ISBN13: 9780582482371
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Longman Publishing Group
• Length: 475 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Everything you always wanted to know about Norman Britain but were afraid to ask

I am jointly reviewing Frank Barlow's The Feudal Kingdom of England and Robert Bartlett's England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings. They deal with the same period, they are remarkably complementary, and I highly recommend doing as I did and reading them together. Barlow's book, first published in 1955, takes a traditional approach and reviews the events of the Norman and early Angevin period chronologically. Bartlett's, benefiting from recent research, offers a more static but broader picture of the period's trends and features. To the newcomer (as I was) or, I think, to someone with basic knowledge of 12th century England, the combination will be as instructive as it is exciting to read. The Feudal Kingdom of England recounts the main political events from the Norman invasion to the forced grant of the Magna Carta by king John. Barlow tells the drama of the conquest, the tales of dynastic intrigue, the blow-by-blow of three-sided feuding between king, church and baronage in sometimes gory, sometimes inspiring detail. Some stories simply need to be given chronologically, which Bartlett doesn't do: the manoeuvrings of William's sons, the dispute between Becket and Henry II, Richard's crusade and capture, the crafty king John's miserable reign. Though the narrative remains central to it, the book also contains chapters on aristocratic society, the church, and the English towns and countryside. In fact, it begins with an overview of England under Edward the Confessor which is invaluable for understanding change in post-invasion England. Bartlett's England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings paints a multi-faceted panorama of 12th and early 13th century England. It is equally awesome in breadth and depth. And it is free of the typical fault of medieval history, in which 90% of space is devoted to the doings of 10% of the population. Bartlett devotes more than half his book to ordinary people's lives, urban and rural: their work, their habitat, their relationship to the lords, their money problems, their beliefs. He offers fascinating information on perceptions of the world, how the day was spent and divided, on marriage, manners and pastimes, even on sex. His section on culture and language isn't the boring recital one often finds, but is lively and relevant to the rest of the book. He describes the church at all levels, not just that of the bishopric, and from both the institutional and the spiritual perspective. He makes the best use of available data to discuss economic developments, themselves key to some of the period's political events (e.g. late 12th century inflation and the disasters of John's reign). And of course, Bartlett describes government and political patterns, only not in sequence. These two books are complementary in other ways. Where Barlow tends to use original words, Bartlett prefers their more explicit equivalents (for example danegeld in one book is called a land tax in the other). If you only have time to read one, I w

A Masterly Treatment of the Norman Period

This is one of my very favorite books in the world. Frank Barlow's scholarly account of Edward the Confessor, the Norman Conquest, and the Norman and Angevin kings has never been bettered. I bought this book in the late 1970s and have read it a dozen times since. I cannot sincerely recommend for the casual reader, but for anyone with a real interest in the period, it is a must. Barlow understood that most good history must be written as a narrative, and this is one of the most intricate and interesting stories of all time. I especially like his insights into Richard I and John.